So I recently acquired a Specialized Fatboy Expert side Medium. I bought some clipless pedals at the LBS, and switched the stem to the original off of my Allez, and she weighed in at a hefty 30.4lbs. Next I changed the saddle to a Selle Italia Flite Carbonio I've had for awhile, and it dropped 100g off. Next I plan to go with a S-Works carbon seatpost, and doing a tubeless conversion. After that I am thinking maybe carbon handlebars, and beyond that maybe you all can help me? I'm thinking maybe brakes and a 1x10 conversion might be on the horizon. I am more of a roadie, so this is a new experience for me, but I always have a desire to push the envelope of lightweight so I figured, why not go crazy on the Fatboy. Anyway here are some pics.

Going tubeless is a good move. No idea what your stock tubes weigh, but considering what a lot of fat bikes run as standard, you could save some serious weight for very little money.

edit: A single stock tube! Plenty of other people have success using cheap Q-Tubes weighing about 250 grams each. Just swapping to those tubes could save close to 700 grams!

A brake upgrade also sound like a good move. If you've got the budget, a switch to Formula R1 can save decent amounts of weight (as would XTR and a few other brands). For a low budget alternative, see if you can get a good deal on low/mid level Magura - they're surprisingly light compared to other brakes in the price range. Even if you don't change the brakes at this stage, KCNC/Ashima rotors will save some weight and be pretty cost effective. If you can find some light, alloy backed pads for your existing brakes, you should also get a decent saving there.

e*thirteen make a spider/ring that would save some weight if you decide to switch to 1x10. The direct mount style FD's aren't exactly light and you get to ditch a shifter so it's a worthwhile saving if you can live with the reduced gear range.

Just the usual stuff other than that.Lighter cassette - I imagine the stock cassette is pretty heavy. A good saving with something like an XG-1080 cassette.Post/bars/stem - Mt Zoom bars are an example. Even some eBay carbon. KCNC have some good alloy options. Uno stems are great value for money etc.Foam grips, fork expander, seat clamp etc - cheap places to save a few grams.Maybe a bit of bolt tuning too?

Last edited by jooo on Mon May 05, 2014 6:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.

HED rims are tubeless ready. Kuroshiro ensō685 rims seem to be the lightest so far.

Sure wheels are a great way to loose weight, but they're not exactly cheap. AFAIK no-one makes a light 190mm hub yet so that holds you back a bit. You could just rebuild the stock rims/hubs with the lightest spokes/nipples you can find. Not sure if the stock freehub is steel or aluminum? The hubs are apparently made by Novatec so maybe you could swap the freehub for a lighter model if there's some compatibility? Or just wait for Tune or someone like that to come out with a 190mm hub before going crazy on the wheels. The e*thirteen crank is already one of the lighter options but if money was no object, you could save weight switching to RF NextSL.

All very good ideas. I brought home a S-Works Carbon post yesterday, and dropped about 70-80g. I threw it on the scale, and didn't really pay much attention, but it was over 50g, and under 100g. Sorry, I wanted to bolt it on real fast, and go for a ride to try out my new S-Works mountain shoes. I'm thinking the 1x10, might be my next step. I hear that the cassette on this bike is really heavy, and crappy, so that might be a good idea to change as well. I think I am going to bring it into work today, and go tubeless. The stock tubes are very heavy. Someone on another forum for 24x2.3-3.0" tube, and dropped like 250g per wheel. That's pretty impressive, but tubeless will drop more, and be more reliable. After flatting it once already, adding reliability seems like a great idea. For the question of brand loyalty. I work in the warranty returns department at Specialized's East Coast Distribution Center in Groveport, Oh. So I like supporting the brand. I still have my Cervelo S2, and it's still my lightest bike. I'll probably never sell it.

My old man just brought one, he ordered it in September last year and got it two months ago, he's absolutely in love with the thing, he has been considering tubeless as well. But now knowing the weight of the tubes will pressure him into it... I rode it a few times, and good god does it not even give a toss about sand pits or bushes or small children or anything, it'll go straight over them

Not so much a race bike but probably one of the most fun bike rides I have ever had. All the best with your build, let us know how the tubeless goes!

I haven't had time to play with modifying it a whole lot lately. I did get some good laps in at Mohican though. I'll be doing tubeless soon, and the e-13 single ring, and 40t cog conversion seem like probable future upgrades. I talked to a guy at the trail the other day who did the same to his. I absolutely love riding it. I'm not a very good mountain biker, but the confidence the big tires give me, make me faster pretty much everywhere. If I can get the weight down a bit on it, it will be a substantial weapon.

So this thread hasn't been moving a lot, but I have been riding the bike a lot, and working on it. I recently picked up some XX brakes, and a X9 Trigger shifter. I've gone tubeless via the split tube method for now. I swapped out the seatpost for a S-Works carbon unit, and changed the Selle Italia Flite Carbon unit, to a Specialized Phenom Pro w/ carbon rails. I'm still using the stock rotors for now, and I ditched the front derailleur and small chainring. A direct mount single ring, lighter rotors, lighter handlebars, a better cassette, are all on the to do list. Anyway she is now at 27.84lbs or 12628g as she sits now. So that's a pretty good chunk of weight shed. Most of which was due to the tubeless conversion at this point. Maybe .7-1.0lbs of it being due to the rest of the changes. The good thing is the brakes work a lot better, and the saddle is the most comfortable I've ever ridden. So not only is it lighter, it's better too. Anyway, here are some pics. Also a K-Edge Garmin mount has been added, as well as a Specialized chainstay protector. I hated adding weight, but those are needed. Especially the chainstay protector. I was getting a lot of chain slap before. I still am I am sure, but it isn't hitting metal anymore.

So I got the e13 narrow wide 30t chainring on last night. It dropped another 54g over the 36t, with the spider. More importantly it shouldn't drop the chain now. I had to put my FD back on, and set the limit screw converting it to a chain guide last weekend. It was dropping chains like mad. I should be able to test it out next weekend and see how it does. I will be busy riding, and racing my new Venge this weekend.

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